


indifferent

by Nyquil



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Crime Fighting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Near Death Experiences, Past Child Abuse, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-28 13:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13905417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyquil/pseuds/Nyquil
Summary: marinette is a nurse who just moved to nyc with her best friends.chat noir is a vigilante, who can't seem to stop getting hurt.orthe daredevil au that no one asked for





	1. .1

Marinette fell on her bed with a groan, closing her eyes as she felt herself relax into the bed. After a long day of unpacking, she just wanted to go asleep and never wake up. She knew, however, that that was, in fact, unlikely considering she had to be up bright and early at 8:00 AM, starting her new job at Saint Juniper Hospital. She was excited, but also tired. After the nine-hour flight from Paris to New York, Marinette then only got a two-hour nap in a shitty hotel before her, Nino, and Alya hauled ass to move into their new apartment.

Marinette was hungry, tired, and she wasn't even halfway done unpacking. She still had to put away at least one of her suitcases, put her books on the bookshelf, and set her computer up to charge. Marinette grabbed a pillow, placing it over her head. She screamed loudly, pressing down to muffle the noise. After she let out most of her frustrations, she slowly sat up on her bed. She looked around her room, wishing that she had telekinetic powers so that she didn't have to get up. She decided she would take a quick break to eat and then finish all the stuff she had to do in one shot.

She quickly walked out of her bedroom and into the living room, surprised to see Nino and Alya eating dinner and watching TV. She glared at the back of their heads, mad that no one asked her if she wanted to join them. She silently walked to the kitchen, seeing a pile of American fast food on the counter. There was a note next to the food, written by Alya.

'Hopefully, you are reading this is the morning, but we went out to some restaurant and didn't know what you wanted so we got you a lot of things? Didn't wants to wake you up.' the note read, chuckling to herself when she realized why there was such a surplus of food. Still not being noticed by the couple in the other room, Marinette grabbed a small container of french fries and walked back to her room quieter than she had come out.

She sat on a lone chair in the middle of the room, not wanting to make a mess on the bed, realizing that she hadn't set her tv up in there yet. She didn't want to go back out there and bother Alya and Nino but she also didn't want to be bored.

Marinette reluctantly got up, walking back to the living room. All they had was a couch, a chair, and a TV on the floor, but they would make it work. Marinette came around the chair, sinking into it before turning to Alya.

"Whatcha watching?" Marinette said, glancing at the brown haired girl and the tv.

"The news, it's actually very interesting. Nice way to get informed." Alya said blankly staring at the TV.

"Informed my ass, you only wanna see that segment about the freak in the leather," Nino responded, Alya rolling her eyes at the man.

Marinette looked between the two, confused.

"You guys gotta stop putting words into a sentence and acting like I understand them," Marinette said slightly grinning, yet still confused.

"We turned on the TV to watch Netflix but the news was already on and they said that their next segment was gonna be about some vigilante in a catsuit - it looked interesting," Alya said, shrugging her shoulders. Nino side eyed his girlfriend, shaking his head while mouthing 'Shes lying' to Marinette. She laughed turning her head to the tv when the commercial went off.

"Good Evening New York City, my name is Deborah Morgan. I have breaking news. Chat Noir, the famed vigilante, was spotted fighting an armed assailant on a building in East Harlem. After the dispute, police attempted to follow the masked man before losing him after about four blocks." The news presenter said, her voice shaking as she talked about the infamous man.

Marinette scoffed at the TV, shaking her head. There was no way that this was real. No way, someone was running around the streets in a catsuit calling himself 'black cat' in French? Yeah. Impossible. The screen switched from the main presenter to a man in the street, doing interviews with witnesses.

"Chat Noir is a threat in the city that needs to be eradicated. He cants just be running around the city doing work that is supposed the for the police and expecting no one to care. We have a justice system in place for a reason, and no one is above it. Especially a masked vigilante." A small old lady said, pointing her bony finger around. The camera then switched again to a young man, looking to be in his 20s.

"I think that Chat Noir is doing the right thing. He's going about it all the wrong way though. Maybe if he was working with the cops as a bounty hunter, it would be better. But running around and doing this on his own its.... complicated." The camera then went back to the first newscaster, a tight-lipped frown evident on her face.

"Let's just say that there's a very fine line between right and wrong, and Chat Noir plays jump rope with that line. More on the story as it develops."

The screen went back to the commercial, Alya looking at the TV in awe while Nino laughed. Marinette sat quietly, thinking about what the people on tv said. A vigilante was never a good idea, no matter if his intentions were good or bad.

"Okay Marinette, tell me you don't think that's cool," Alya said, turning to face her best friend. Marinette turned to face the other girl, looking at her in disbelief.

"No, Alya, I don't think that's cool. A crazy psychopath is running around a city that we just moved to, and you're calling it cool? He could kill us, for Christ sakes!" Marinette responded, wondering why Alya even considered this cool.

"C'mon Mari, you're not telling me that if Chat Noir was outside your window right now you wouldn't want to talk to him?" Alya shot back, sitting up and actually turning to face the shorter girl.

Marinette stood up, ready to leave. "No? Why is that even a question?"

Alya scoffed, falling back on the couch. "Whatever."

Marinette shook her head, walking back into the room. She was happy that she had all her curtains set up, at least no one could watch her through her windows. She went to lock her windows and the door to her balcony, being safe. She didn't care if this mysterious Chat Noir was searing for justice or for a thrill kill, she just knew that she wasn't going to take any chances.

Marinette wiggled out of her skinny jeans, smiling as she finally got to properly stretch her legs. She walked over to her bed, only caring out how long it was going to take her to fall asleep. She could feel herself pulling into the sweet release of rest, her mind finally getting a break. For the first time in a long time, Marinette dozed right off to sleep.


	2. .2

Marinette was startled awake by her first alarm, groaning when she realized what time it was. She covered her face with her quilt, planning on getting an extra five minutes of sleep. She was almost completely asleep when she heard Alya knock on her door, not even waiting to come in.

"Girl, get up. We don't have time to lay around." Alya said, throwing a pillow at Marinette. She groaned again, throwing back her covers dramatically.

"I'm starting to regret being a nurse," Marinette said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Just wait until we have to work a 12-hour shift. You will most definitely regret it then." Alya yelled, walking down the hallway.

Marinette sighed, getting up to begin her morning routine. As she was getting ready, she thought about how long this day was going to be. It was going to be even harder because she was starting a new job, in a new country, where she only knew two people. Plus, the city she moved to had a crazy psychopath running around buildings. In a leather suit.

And it was Monday. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Marinette and Alya stood outside of the hospital, looking up at the ginormous building. The hospital was exceptional, to say the least, with a modern design and giant glass windows. Over the doors, blue script lettering spelled out 'Saint Juniper Hospital' with a banner under it saying 'Welcome'.

"Wow. We work here now." Alya said, looking between the front doors and the other girl, "Once we walk through those doors, our new life is gonna start."

Marinette cringed, turning to face Alya.

"You are so cheesy, you know that?" Marinette said, trying to hold her smile back but began to grin when she saw the other girls face.

"Yeah, I know. But still! We are gonna be helping people, saving lives." Alya said, sighing.

"You're right. Maybe we should go in and actually get to saving lives instead of standing at the door." Marinette replied, pulling the other girl toward the entrance. Once they were in, they looked around for a bit before finding the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Alya Cesaire and this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, today is-"

"Yeah, you guys are the new nurses, right? Follow me." The woman at the desk said, quickly grabbing two clipboards and walking towards an elevator.

They quickly followed after her, not wanted to be labeled slow or lazy on the first day. When she stopped at the elevator, she turned around and handed them the clipboards. They quickly took them, looking at each other then quickly at the boards.

"Welcome to Saint Junipers. I'm Chloe, and I'm the head nurse here. I'm gonna show you the schematics of the building, and you are going to shut up, follow me, and learn something." Chloe said, stepping into the elevator once it arrived.

The girls followed her onto the elevator, watching her next words.

"We're going to the third floor, which is the ER. Because you guys are new here, no matter how much experience you have anywhere else, you will get the grunt work," Chloe said, stepping off the elevator, "So try to keep up, okay? And maybe try to touch up on your English. People won't understand you if you don't speak American."

Marinette scoffed, looking at the head nurse in disgust. How could you live and work in such a diverse place and still be bigoted? Marinette swallowed thickly, trying to find her voice.

"Excuse me? Chloe." Marinette said softly, coughing to clear her throat and not make herself shaky.

"What?" Chloe said, pausing and turning on her heels. She crossed her hands over her chest, glaring at the blue-haired girl.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I don't think your comment about our accents was necessary," Marinette said, holding her breath and preparing to get yelled at. When no reply came, she continued.

"Also, American isn't a language. It's English. And as you can see from our conversation, my English is perfectly fine and you will come to learn that hers is too. Maybe even better than yours." She said, looking boldly into the other nurse's eyes. She heard Alya gasp behind her, but stood her ground, not letting herself waver.

Chloe stepped closer to Marinette, almost a foot away from her.

"Keep talking to me like that, and I will make your life a living hell," Chole said, not breaking eye contact with Marinette.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, its a promise."

"I'll promise you this. If you keep threatening me and my friend and making racist remarks, I promise I will not hesitate to walk right up to HR." Alya said, finally stepping in.

Chloe stood frozen, glancing at the girls. She sighed, reaching into her back pocket to check the time.

"I don't have time for this. I have shit to do. Find your own way around." Chloe said, not even bothering to look up from her phone before she sprinted down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

"Holy shit! That was badass." Marinette heard someone say from behind her, the voice taking her by surprise. She turned around as was met by a tall girl with black hair, which faded into a dark purple around the ends. The girl had black eyeliner around her eyes, her dark hair and makeup a sharp contrast to her baby blue scrubs.

"Uh, thanks?" Both Marinette and Alya said at the same time. They didn't know who the girl was talking to, but they both did some pretty badass things.

"Oh! I'm sorry, this is probably so weird," The girl said, laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of her head, "I'm Juleka. I was going to be the head nurse but that leech in a human body took the job from me. I might as well get the title though, cause I always end up doing her work."

Marinette and Alya sighed in relief, happy that they found someone nice.

"C'mon, follow me," She said, walking down the hall, "Those clipboards are which beds you have to go to and in which order, each bed has a list of things you have to check. Vitals, symptoms, pain level, the whole nine yards."

Alya turned to Marinette, mouthing 'Is that an American term?' Marinette chuckled silently, mouthing back 'I don't know."

"A few doctors might treat you like shit, but its because you're new and they forget that this hospital would burn without nurses," Juleka said, smirking, "The main thing you have to remember is to not let anyone get under your skin. Doctors will try, patients will try, hell even other nurses will try. But you have to keep some sort of inner balance or else this job really will be a living hell."

"There's not really much more I could tell you, it's very simple working here. Do you guys have any questions?" Juleka ended her statement with, turning around to face the two of them. They both shook their head no, getting the gist of things.

"Good. You guys should get started on rounds, the doctors will be down any minute and they want all of the hard work already done for them!" With that, Juleka grabbed her own clipboard and made her way to a bed. Marinette and Alya shared a look, sighing before heading their separate ways.

* * *

 

"You know how to get home, right Mari?" Alya said for the third time, rolling her window down to ask her blue-haired friend. Marinette sighed, turning to face Alya.

"For the third and final time, yes. Go enjoy your date!" Marinette said, waving her off and beginning to walk down the street. After about ten minutes of walking down the same street, Marinette paused and looked around. She wouldn't say she was lost because she knew one of these streets led back to her apartment, but she didn't particularly know which one. She stood idly on the corner before turning right, into the shorter street.

The street wasn't well lit, but it would take her less than a minute to walk the full length of it so Marinette wasn't worried. It wasn't like Chat Noir would try to kill her in a minute.

As she was about halfway down the street, she heard shuffling behind her. She refused to look back, instead, she tightened her sweater around her shoulders and picked up the pace. It seems whoever was following her did the same because the shuffling behind her became quicker. Before Marinette could reach into her purse to phone someone, she felt a rough tug on her arm. The assailant pulled her to her left, into an alleyway. They roughly pressed her against the cold bricks, shoving a dirty hand over her mouth.

"I'm going to take my hand off of your mouth in a moment. If you so much as breath too loud, I will rip out your vocal chords. Got it?" The man said, staring into Marinette eyes. Marinette nodded quickly, eager to get this mans hand off her mouth. From her other side, she heard another shuffle in the dark. This is a two man job.

The man slowly removed his hand from her mouth, not backing away.

"Good girl. Now, I want you to reach into your purse and pull out your wallet. Don't try anything funny, because if you do, I won't think twice," The man said, lifting his sweater up to reveal a handgun in his waistband, "And we don't want that do we?"

Marinette breath caught in her throat, fear overtaking her body.

"Okay, but I just want to know, why did you need two people to rob me? I don't think it was that hard for you to grab me." Marinette said, whispering.

"Two? What the fuck-" The man said, looking around with more fear in his eyes than Marinette, "Holy shit."

The man stepped back to run but was quickly grabbed by his throat. Marinette jumped out of the way, confused and scared as to what was happening. The man struggled to breathe as this other person squeezed his trachea, cutting the air flow to his brain. Marinette stood horrified, not wanting to be a witness to a murder but also wanting to know who was saving her life. Before the man completely passed out, he was dropped to the floor like a piece of garbage.

"Next time, I'll wait until you aren't breathing. Get out." The other figure said, looking down at the man.

The man struggled to breathe, his brain still deprived. "Please." He croaked out, reaching his hand up for help. The other person grabbed him by his shirt, shoving him roughly against the wall.

"Did I stutter? Or do you want me to inform your wife and kids that you are robbing young women at gunpoint to feed your coke addiction?" He said, almost growling at the degenerate. When there was no reply, he dropped him back to the floor.

"That's what I thought. Don't make me say it a third time. Get out."

The man scrambled to his feet, running off into the darkness. Marinette stared at the stranger in front of her, not knowing what to say. She did know what, to begin with, though.

"Thank you." She said, breathing out a sigh of relief, happy that she still had her money, and you know, her life.

"Its no trouble, really," The stranger said, smiling slightly, "Do you need help getting home?"

Marinette was about to decline but remembered what got her in this situation in the first place. "Actually, yes, I do need help. could you tell me which direction 36th and Ninth is?" She said, embarrassed that she didn't know where her own house was.

"Once you walk to the end of this street, make a left and after about 5 minutes of walking, you're there." He said.

"Thank you again. Could I get a name to thank?" She said, hoping that this stranger would stop being so creepy and mysterious.

He laughed again, looking towards the ground. "Call me Chat."

Marinette gasped and backed away, recognizing the name immediately.

"Chat? As in Chat Noir?" She said, already knowing the answer.

"Yup." He said, popping his lips on the 'p'.

"But you-you're not-"

"A criminal? Nope. Why does everyone have the same reaction everytime they meet me?" He replied.

"But the news said-"

"That I'm dangerous? Yeah, they do that a lot. I'm just trying to protect my own little corner of New York, yet people still see me as the bad guy." He said, shaking his head.

Marinette stood there silently, not knowing what to say. Just last night, she was terrified of this vigilante and now she was having a conversation with him in an alley. Nope. Not today, Satan.

Marinette backed up slowly, rubbing her hand on the back oh her neck. "Yeah well, thanks for the instructions, but I kinda sorta have to go? Yeah, I do. Thanks again. Good night!" Marinette didn't wait for a reply as she turned out of the alley, walking home as fast as she could. She couldn't help but think to herself why everyone hated him so much, as he seemed like such a kind person.

Marinette shook the thoughts out of her head, reminding herself that he was taking the law into his own hands. That wasn't right, and supporting vigilanteism isn't what she ever planned on doing. So she pushed the thoughts of the leather-clad man out of her head, hoping that that would be their first, and final conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so marinette met chat! she hates him lmao but we all know this is gonna be a slow burn and who doesnt love some good enemies to friends to lovers?  
> comments are welcome  
> kudos also  
> thanks i hope you enjoyed


	3. .3

A week later, Marinette was regretting everything. She still hadn't gotten used to the time difference. Somehow though, Alya and Nino were perfectly fine, dragging her out for three days in a row after a 12-hour shift to go explore the city. Marinette didn't really see the appeal, and she was even more scared of going out after last weeks encounter. She always felt anxious, like someone was watching her. She was scared when she turned every corner, even inching around in the hospital. Alya noticed, she was sure of it, but she hadn't said anything to her so she hoped she was in the clear.

Marinette sighed, turning over in her bed to grab her phone. The time read 3:48 am, which was about 4 hours too late to get a good nights sleep. She had the day off, but her sleep schedule was still gonna messed up in the long run. She groaned, grabbing a pillow and yelling in it. After she was done she grabbed her phone and started aimlessly scrolling on Instagram.

When her thumb started to get sore, she slowly glanced at her balcony, wondering if she should go out there. She looked at her phone, noticing it was 4:07 now. No one would be awake, including a specific masked assailant. She would be alone. She sighed, rolling out of her bed, putting on her slippers. She grabbed her blanket, in case it was cold. Marinette slowly walked to her door, softly opening it to make sure no one was awake. She closed it, locking it slowly before walking to her window. Sliding it open, she crawled on the metal fire escape, noticing how warm it was.

After the placed her blanket down to sit on, she closed the window until there was about an inch of space left.

She looked across the New York skyline, smiling at all the lights. It reminded her of Paris, both cities always lit. Paris was always alive, with lights from the Eiffel Tower, to the lights glistening on the Seine. New York was almost exactly like that, with the Empire State building towering above her and the Hudson river splashing below.

No place would ever be like home, though.

Before Marinette could think about home, her phone started vibrating in her hand. She looked at the phone, shocked to see it was her parents. She quickly did the math, realizing it was almost ten thirty over there. They would just be opening the bakery.

She pressed the answer button, bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hey, guys." She said, waiting for her parent's enthusiastic answer.

  
"Marinette! Oh, we are so glad to hear from you! Its been too long since you left. I almost forgot you were gone yesterday." Sabine said, loudly in the speaker.

"C'est vrai! She came out of your old room, confused as to where you were. We almost died of laughter when she remembered." Her father said, laughing at the memory.

Marinette smiled, happy to hear her parent voice. "I've been gone a week, you should be used to me being gone by now."

"Don't be silly, this will happen forever. We're used to you here." Sabine said sweetly, causing Marinette to smile even more.

Her father broke the moment, yelling into the receiver.

"Enough about us, tell us about your new job! How is it?" He said.

"Its... fun," She said, deciding not to talk about the incident on her first day. "The people there are okay, but they will probably get nicer once they get to know us."

"That's amazing! And how is that Nino boy?" Her mother replied.

"He's doing great! He has three shows booked this week, so he's definitely happy. And Alya is doing great too, she loves work. Shes already made a lot of friends." Marinette said, a frown pulling at her face. She didn't want to tell her parents that she had made no friends, and she missed home terribly.

"That is so good. I'm happy for you Mari. We're happy for you." He father said, his voice giving away his smile.

"We aren't going to hold you up for too long. We just wanted to check up on you. We know it must be late, what is it, six hours behind. It's like-" She heard her move the phone away, and soft counting, "- Oh, its 4 am over there! We're sorry Mari, we didn't know it was so early. We're gonna let you go. Goodnight!"

"Bonne Nui, mama. Bonne Nui, papa." She said, hearing the familiar beeping noise in her ear.

She closed her eyes, letting her hand drop to her lap. Marinette could feel tears welling in her eyes. She missed her parents and her city. She didn't want to disappoint anyone. Alya would be so hurt, but she knew she would insist on moving back home Marinette. She didn't want to make Alya go back to a place she dreamed of getting out of for years.

She quickly opened her eyes when she heard a noise above her, then directly behind her.

"Was that French?" The voice said, scaring Marinette half out of her mind. She scrambled across the fire escape, now facing the voice. Her face dropped when she saw it was Chat Noir.

"Geez, why is everyone so afraid?" He said, laughing. He climbed on the banister, sitting across from Marinette.

"What do you want?" Marinette said shakily, her heart still jumping out of her chest.

"Woah, your heart is beating like crazy. I didn't mean to scare you that bad." Chat said, playing with his hands in shame.

"You crawled onto my balcony, listened to my conversation, and snuck up on me. Not to mention you are a known criminal And its four in the morning!" Marinette whisper yelled, not wanting to wake her friends.

"I heard something, came to see if someone was getting, I don't know, robbed, and found you." Chat Noir said sarcastically.

Marinette rolled her eyes, hoping he couldn't see that.

"Whatever. No one is getting robbed. Can you leave now?" Marinette said back, just as sarcastically.

"No. You never answered my question." He said, matter of factly.

"What?" Marinette said, completely forgetting about his initial approach.

"Was that French?"

"Non, c'était du latin." She replied, smirking.

"Oh, parlez-vous le latin?" He fired back, a smile tugging at his face.

"Instabit." She said, grinning completely now.

"Are you from France?" He said, also grinning.

She paused. Giving away information to a stranger, a _criminal_ , was not a good idea. However, this was harmless.

"Yes," She said reluctantly, thinking, once again, about Paris, "Born and raised."

"Wow. I couldn't even tell, you know. When we first talked." Chat said.

"Yeah, well if I pretend to be American, accent and all, people are less likely to think I'm stupid. Especially when, you know, you're getting robbed or talking to a criminal who could kill you." Marinette said, sighing.

"Kill you? I would never. What makes you think that?" Chat said, hurt in his voice.

"Oh, you know, just the numerous, daily reports that the news gives, or maybe the patients I treat who say you attacked them," Marinette said, thinking back to a man who came into the ER two days ago with a dislocated shoulder blade. He said Chat Noir twisted his arm around so hard, he almost pulled it off like a crab leg.

"Anybody that I get into an altercation with has done several things that have warranted their injuries." Chat said, getting defensive.

Marinette scoffed, wondering what could warrant physical torture against others. She quickly told him about the guy in her ER, asking for an explanation.

"Look. That guy had some shady stuff going on, and he needed to be stopped. I needed to make sure he wouldn't do what he did again."

"Which was what, exactly?" Marinette asked again.

"He-" Chat paused to bite his lip, obviously contemplating telling her. "He was selling heroin to teens. I warned him about it before, but three days ago my friend Luke told me he was still at it. I had to stop him." Chat said, looking into his lap.

"So? That doesn't give you permission to hurt people. You are trying to be a god, trying to be judge, jury, and executioner at the same. You cant do that." She said, standing up. She was getting upset now.

Chat followed her movements, swiftly jumping up.

"I am not! I do what has to be done, and I do my best at it. I didn't come here to be interrogated and psychoanalyzed, I came to see if you were okay after the other day. But obviously, you're fine." He said, beginning to raise his voice.

"Do you think I need someone to check up on me? I don't. I appreciate you help from the other day, you saved my wallet and probably my life, but I would appreciate it if you stopped following me!" Marrinete said, raising her voice to match his.

"Following you? It that was you call this? Following you? I only know where you live because you gave me the street you lived on, and you are out here in plain sight. Don't worry, no one is even thinking remotely about following you." Chat shot back, his voice echoing off the surrounding buildings now.

Marinette stepped closer to him, glaring into his eyes. This was the first time she had gotten an up-close look at his face. His green eyes weren't actually eyes, but a neon covered surface in front of his eyes.

How can he see?

Marinette ignored he thoughts, stepping closer until her mouth was close to his ear.

"Leave. Me. Alone." She said, her voice solid.

He backed away, throwing his hand in the air.

"Your wish is my command, _Princess_." With that, he was gone, running across rooftops until he was a small blur against the bright lights.

Marinette wanted to scream, but she clenched her fists instead. Climbing back into her window, she had to be extra careful not to knock anything over. She tossed off her slippers, unlocked the door, and walked to her bed. She threw herself down, no more tired than she was before.

Marinette truly, officially hated that cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> french translation:
> 
> c'est vrai- thats true  
> bonne nui- goodnight  
> non, c'était du latin- no, it was latin  
> oh, parlez-vous le latin?- oh, you speak latin?
> 
> latin translatin:
> 
> instabit- possibly
> 
>  
> 
> how do you guys like it? i think its going pretty well, but i would love to hear any criticism. kudos and comments always welcomed.


	4. .4

Marinette was beat.   
  
Working at a hospital was tiring work. Of course, she knew this, but she didn't expect it to be so much. Chloe made sure that she got all the grunt work that the doctors and other nurses didn't want, leaving her to deal with case after case of bullshit. Kids with legos stuck up their nose, old women who were the biggest hypochondriacs ever, and of course, the people who got random things stuck up their butt.   
  
It was surprising how extremely stupid so many people can be.   
  
But Mari bore through all the work because the small lego she took out the kids nose was nothing to her but everything to that kid's parent and the old lady who was convinced she contracted Ebola at a Subway got to sleep well that night.   
  
Marinette was 30 hours into a 48-hour shift and at this point, she was convinced she could hear colors. She was treating a teenager who had bet his friend he could push a pencil through the skin between his thumb and pointer finger. He did it, of course, and now he was here, writhing in pain and biting his lip so hard he started bleeding.   
  
"I didn't think you were gonna actually do it, asshole!" The friend that came up with the bet said from the other side of the table, a hint of guilt and amusement in his voice.   
  
"Yeah well, I did. You know I will do anything for 20 dollars." The one in the bed said, glaring at his friend.   
  
"Yeah, but not this!" The other boy exclaimed, mostly mad that he lost 20 dollars.   
  
Marinette laughed, finally finishing cleaning the wound and beginning to wrap it.   
  
"Both of you are stupid. One, why would you dare your friend to stab himself? Two, why would you actually do it? And for 20 dollars? You have to raise your prices, kid." Marinette spoke up, causing both the boys to go silent.   
  
She finished wrapping up when the kid's parent snatched open the curtain, running to his side and pushing the other kid out of the way.   
  
"Shawn Tyler Robinson, are you stupid? You can't possibly be because I know I didn't raise a stupid child." The mother said, her tone of concern not matching her harsh words.   
  
"Ma, it was a bet and I didn't think it would be a big deal." The kid, Shawn, replied.   
  
"And you," She said, turning to the other boy, "You two were best friends for years so I know I didn't raise you to be stupid either."   
  
"I'm sorry, Ms. Robinson." The boy said, staring at the floor in shame, playing with his shirt.   
  
"You better be. And now, you," Ms. Robinson said, turning to face Marinette, "What exactly is the damage?"   
  
"Well, luckily with the angle and direction that the pencil penetrated, it missed any arteries or muscles. Essentially, it only went through the skin. he should be fine, provided that he cleans the wound twice daily and doesn't try to stab himself again." Marinette replied, tossing her gloves in the garbage.   
  
"Oh thank god. Thank you for fixing him, I almost had a heart attack when the school told me he was in the hospital," She turned to glare at her son, "Until they told me why he was here."   
  
"Well, good thing it wasn't too bad. The doctor should be round in a few minutes to give you your discharge papers, just sit tight until he comes." Marinette said, starting to leave.   
  
"Thank you," Shawn said from the bed, slightly embarrassed. Mari shot him a smile and stepped out of the room, closing the curtain. She looked around and saw that the ER wasn't too full, so she could sit down and take a break before she had to do another 18 hours of useless work.   
  
Before Marinette could even move to find a chair, Alya ran up behind her and grabbed her arm.   
  
"Mari, you have got to come with me if you want to get an actual case." Alya said, dragging Marinette in a different direction before she even had time to protest.   
  
"Somebody just dropped off a stabbing victim in front of the hospital and people are saying it was Chat Noir." Alya replied, starting to run while still gripping Marinette's arm.   
  
The thought of getting a big case made Marinette run just as fast, if not faster than her friend. Once they reached the front doors, they both froze in their tracks.   
  
The man was lying unconscious on his side, with blood covering almost every article of clothing he had. From the way they could see it, it looked like he had at least four stab wounds.   
  
"Holy shit." Marinette said quietly, her eyes traveling from the man's bloody abdomen to his bruised and battered face.   
  
"Holy shit indeed. Grab some gloves." Alya said, darting over to the nearest cart.   
  
Marinette tore her eyes from the man, rushing behind Alya. As they were putting on the gloves, someone came out with a stretcher and loaded the man onto it. They rushed to the side, finding a place amid the chaos.   
  
"He has three stab wounds in the left upper quadrant and one in the right lower quadrant. If we don't get this man to an OR now he is going to bleed to death." The doctor said to everyone around him, rushing to the elevator.   
  
"Excuse me, sir?" Marinette said to the doctor quietly, still shaken over the damage this young man had endured.   
  
The doctor ignored her, giving commands to all the other nurses and seemingly not interested in what she was saying.   
  
"Sir." She said again, louder this time. The doctor snapped his head towards her, not saying anything but giving her permission to speak.   
  
"We need to call neuro. Seeing the amount of damage on his head we don't know if there could be a brain bleed." She said, looking at the floor. The elevator door opened and they all began rushing out. Some nurses took him into the OR while the rest when into the scrub room.   
  
"What I need to do," The doctor said, putting emphasis on the 'I', "Is make sure that man doesn't bleed to death. If I don't close him up, his brain will be the least of his problems."   
  
"And if you don't make sure he doesn't have a brain bleed, he will have no problems because he will be dead." Marinette replied sternly.   
  
The doctor paused, turning to glare at her.   
  
"Get out of my OR. As a matter of fact, get out of my hospital. You're off for the rest of the day. Goodbye." The doctor said, smirking a bit towards the end of his statement.   
  
Marinette gaped at him, enraged that he would put a mans life at risk to boost his ego. She closed her mouth and swallowed slowly, then turned on her heel to walk out. She made sure to take off her gloves and dramatically throw them on the floor before she left, however.   
  
She stormed down the hallway and into the nurse's lockers, grabbing her coat and purse and storming out just as quick.   
  
After walking into the frigid New York air, she stood in front of the spot where the man was dropped. There was smeared blood all over the concrete, puddles of it beginning to clot and thicken. She stared at the spot, thinking of the poor man and his family. She didn't want to think about his potential wife and kids getting the call in the middle of the night that they were going to forever be one family member short, so she turned around and walked right back into the hospital.   
  
She grabbed the first attending she saw and told them that the doctor needed a head CT in OR 4, and that he needed it as soon as possible to determine if his patient had a brain bleed. The attending thanked Marinette and ran towards the elevator, and she turned around and walked out, feeling better about herself than she did 5 minutes before.   
  
As she walked home, she thought about how tomorrow, she would be facing a whirlwind of shit for going above her superior and disobeying orders.   
  
She didn't care though. She knew that she had just potentially saved that man's life, and that was good enough for her.   
  
When she finally got home, she unlocked the door and noticed that the apartment was dark. She called out Nino's name, to no response, and shut the door.   
  
She turned on a light and took off her shoes, flopping down on the couch. For every hour she just spent working, she was going to sleep double that. She had already started to nod out when three rapid knocks came from the front door. She jumped up and wiped a line of drool from her mouth, slowly walking to the door.   
  
"Who is it?" She said, not expecting anyone at the house.   
  
"Um, Uber Eats?" The voice from the other side of the door said. She opened to door to tell whoever it was that they had the wrong door and came face to face with Chat Noir.   
  
She slammed the door immediately, locking it and putting the chain on.   
  
"Go away," she yelled, "Before I call the police."   
  
"Look, open the door. Please." He said, a begging tone to his voice.   
  
She contemplated for a minute before slowly taking the lock off and opening the door as far as the chain would allow.   
  
He stood there with his hand over his chest and a satisfied smirk on his face, pleased with himself that he could get her to open up the door.   
  
"Stop looking at me like that. What do you want?" She said harshly, not wanting to be near the man who caused the carnage she saw at the hospital earlier.   
  
Her eyes grew wide as he removed his hand from his chest, revealing a large and rather deep cut that was bleeding profusely. He placed his hand over his chest to stop the bleeding once she saw.   
  
"I kinda need your help." He said, scratching the back of his head.    
  
"How do you even know I want to help you after I saw what you did to that man?" She said, wanting to help but also not knowing if he deserved it.   
  
"Didn't you take a pledge or something?" He said.   
  
She sighed and closed the door, going to undo the chain.   
  
Stupid Hippocratic oath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not to be extra but the whole man dying and marinette pressing for a ct was literally me projecting my feelings about derek shepherds death in greys anatomy but that's a problem for another fandom.  
> anyways.  
> sorry it took so long to get the fourth chapter up, i've been focusing on school and haven't really had time to write.  
> kudos and comments always welcome  
> thank you for reading!!


	5. .5

Marinette ushered Chat in, looking both ways out of the door to make sure no one saw. Seeing that the hall was clear, she closed the door and slid the deadbolt into place.

Chat sat on the couch patiently, his ever-present smirk on his face.

Marinette turned and glared at him and ran in her room, trying to remember which box her first aid kit was in. She chose a random box and got to work. As she shoved things to the side, she began to think about the wound Chat Noir had shown her. Compared to the guy she saw in the hospital earlier, this was nothing. If Chat was the one responsible for what happened to that man, how did he come out of that fight with only one cut? She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind once she found the kit, her number one priority now was fixing him and getting him the hell out of her house.

She found him in the living room exactly how she left him, as if he didn't move an inch.

"You need to uh, lay down. So I can clean that properly." She said to him slowly.

"Do you have to stitch it up? I'm not particularly fond of needles." He said, laying down on the couch. He winced a bit as he adjusted himself, but it was clear that he was holding back how much it truly hurt.

Marinette sat on the coffee table, placing the kit next to her.

"I have to examine the cut first to be sure, but most likely." She responded.

Placing her hand over the cloth covering the wound, she slowly moved it away to get a closer look at the cut. From the corner of her eye, she could see Chat grimace at the cold air hitting the wound.

"It's not super deep, but it's deep enough. You also have a bit of gravel or dirt in there, which we have to get cleaned out or you could get an infection." She said upon examining the cut.

"Stitches. Do you have to give me stitches?" He said.

Marinette shook her head yes, already reaching for everything she needed.

Chat sighed, cursing under his breath. "Shit."

Marinette reached for the scissors, but Chats gloved hand shot out to grab her wrist before she could grab them.

"You can't cut the suit. I can't walk around with a whole in this, plus its custom made." He said, smiling a bit toward the end of his sentence.

"Tough," Mari replied, quickly moving her other hand to grab the scissors and cut through the suit.

"Dude! Not cool! Do you know how much this costs?" Chat yelled, upset clear in his voice.

"More than your life? Because if I can't clean this properly and this gets infected, that's exactly what you will be giving up." She shot back at him.

He went silent, retreating back down and letting Marinette tend to his wound.

They stayed silent like that for a while, except for a few winces from Chat when Marinette began to sew him up. Marinette broke the silence to ask him what had been burning in her mind since earlier today.

"Earlier today, some guy was dropped off at the hospital," Marinette began, looking at Chat to try to gauge his reaction.

"Yeah, that's what usually happens with patients. What about it?" Chat replied. Marinette poked him with the needle for the sarcasm, a satisfied feeling in her chest.

"He uh- he was messed up real bad. Like, we didn't know if he was gonna be okay. I still don't know if he is okay," Marinette said softly, pausing, "Some people were saying you did that."

The silence was deafening, Marinette's eyes glued on his face.

"Did you really do that to that man?" She said quietly, almost afraid of the response.

Chat took a deep breath, turning to look at her.

"Yes." He said flatly, his voice showing no remorse. Marinette paused for a second, the reality of the situation hitting her. She got back to her work, quietly stitching, the situation replaying over in her mind.

"Aren't you going to ask me why?" He chimed in, raising his brow.

She wanted to. She wanted to know if there was a reasonable explanation for him beating that man two inches from death, but there couldn't have been a reasonable explanation. And she didn't want to hear Chat try to justify himself, so she stayed quiet, focusing on the task at hand, trying to get it done as quickly as possible.

Chat sighed, not as affected by the pain anymore, and asked Marinette if she was almost done. She shook her head softly, her mouth too dry to speak. She finished up her last two stitches and sterilized the wound.

Marinette stood up, grabbing all the trash and heading to the kitchen. After throwing the garbage away, she paused. She did want to know why he did that. She wanted an explanation, even if he didn't owe her one. She hadn't gotten a call from Alya letting her know if the man was still alive, and her anxiety was through the roof. She took a deep breath and headed into the living room, ready to confront-

He was gone.

The door was slightly ajar, and there was a note in his place on the couch. Marinette stared at it like it was a bomb, too afraid to touch it but knowing she had too.

She walked to the door, closing it and locking it before turning her attention towards the note. She picked it up, reading the words over and over again.

_I get the message. I'll stay away. - CN_

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, Marinette couldn't get the note out of her mind. Of course, on one hand, he was right. She was showing all signs of hating him, of wanting him to be far, far away from her. But on the other hand, she wanted to know him. She felt like he wasn't actually a bad person, that's just what the news portrayed him to be. But then she thought about the patient at the hospital, and the chilling calmness in his voice when he admitted his guilt.

All of these thoughts, however, were forced out of her head when Nino and Alya barged through the front door, laughing hysterically.

"So then," Nino said, shrill laughter cutting through his words, "She slipped on a banana peel!"

Alya burst out laughing, her own shrill laughter cutting through his. Marinette turned to them and smiled softly, offering a quiet 'Hello'.

Alya nodded and Nino continued laughing, his own story seeming like the funniest thing to ever happen to him. They both dropped their stuff on the floor and found places on the couch on either side of Marinette. As they were laughing their lungs out, Marinette waited patiently to ask Alya the question that had been burning on her mind all day.

After they had finally caught their breath, Marinette turned to face Alya.

"So, how is he?" She said, noticing her voice was shaking slightly.

"Who?" Alya responded abruptly, her face turning into one of ignorance.

"That guy that was left in front of the hospital," Marinette replied.

"Oh. Him. He was looking bad for a while, he even flatlined during surgery. But once he was out and stabilized, he seemed fine. They expect him to pull through." Alya said, a content smile tugging at her lips. Marinette let her shoulders drop for the first time that day, finally taking a deep breath and actually allowing herself to relax. Alya and Nino continued their conversation, but Marinette wasn't paying attention anymore. Before that she knew that the man had lived, all she wanted to do was stay holed up in their house and not move, hoping that time would stand still for a moment. Now, all she wanted was to be outside in the open air, taking in as much as she could.

Mari stood up and murmured something about being tired to her friends and quietly slipped in her room, locking the door swiftly behind her. She slid on a random sweater she found on her floor and opened her window, climbing up onto the balcony. The frigid New York air stung her cheeks, making her shiver and shove her hands into her pockets. She looked at the skyline and smiled, memories of home flooding back into her head. As she stared fondly at the bright buildings, she felt fatigue take her over, making her eyes heavy and her head lull to the side.

Before she turned around to go into her room, she took one last look at the skyline and swore she could see someone on one of the buildings out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored it and closed her window, shutting out the outside world, if only for a night.

For tonight, Marinette would forget her job, and her friends, and especially the ever-so-annoying Chat Noir. For tonight, Marinette just wanted to sleep, which is exactly what she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry guys, this chapter is more of a filler than anything but I promise it's not gonna be this boring forever! if you have stuck around for this long: thank you!  
> fun fact: this is the first and the only fic that I have a) actively tried to update and b) not deleted after 1 chapter so...  
> anyways.   
> thank you, as always, for reading.  
> kudos and comments are always appreciated!!!


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